Metroid: Ridley's Descent
by smileaway96
Summary: Samus has been sent once again to Zebes for the extermination of the dangerous and quickly spawning metroids. Animals reproduce; this seems almost natural to the bounty hunter. However, the reason why the metroids are quickly spreading might not be why Samus thinks. Review, please!
1. Chapter 1

Samus Aran stared out the window of her ship. What lay outside was a rainy terrain with grassy cliffs and swampy marshes. This was Crateria on Planet Zebes, where the metroids had begun to spawn once again. Samus had come to eliminate them before their energy could be used for overtaking other planets and every last life form was sucked dry of their own energy.

Samus emerged from her ship, scoping out the scene of Planet Zebes' surface, or Crateria. She began to look for a way inside the cliffs; a door, or maybe a sort of elevator to take her below the surface. As she tread the damp grass below her boots, Samus recognized a distant cry: the cry of a dragon-like hybrid. She knew the sound all too well. Not two minutes after Samus had heard the cry, the dragon, a purple and yellow blur, flew past her, the wings narrowly missing her head. The bounty hunter readied her blaster, aiming for the sky. Ridley had returned—and there was no doubt in Samus' mind that he was plotting again. Again, the dragon swooped down with a shriek and, this time, spit fireballs at his nemesis. She gracefully and easily bent into a morph ball, a special upgrade on her suit meant for getting through tight spots, to avoid the fire. Ridley circled once more, and then began to fly off. Samus stood upright again.

"Yeah, fly away, you giant coward!" she muttered into her visor. She had been so ready to battle, and almost eager. It frustrated her when an opportunity at action fled so quickly, even though it could get somewhat overwhelming at times. Shrugging off the disappointment, Samus recalled her mission and shot open a blue door leading into a cave, ready for bounty hunting.

Samus stepped into the cave with her blaster aimed forward. She was constantly on the alert, shooting almost every living creature that came in her way. It seemed that most creatures on distant planets were out to attack any intruders. That's what Earthlings would probably do, too. But Samus was fearless. As a bounty hunter, it was part of her job-being unafraid of the unknown.

The bounty hunter adjusted her red helmet uncomfortably. For whatever reason, it didn't seem to fit right. She looked through the green visor, seeing nothing but rocks and a few strange bugs crawling up and down the mossy stone walls. She sighed, bored already by the adventure.

"Might as well keep going," she decided, shuffling through the tall grass and shooting a power beam at the spiked beetle that charged towards her. It retreated after being badly wounded, leaving a trail of oozing green blood. Samus made a face and continued. _I'm looking for a metroid nest_ . . . she thought. If I were a metroid, where would I be hiding? Samus looked around, deep in thought. _Probably in the very depths of the planet,_ she concluded. _And if not, I'll have to search the entire planet again_. She went along her way, just as another two figures entered the door she had come from. They muttered something in their own language, which translated to,

"We've found her again."


	2. Chapter 2

In another place underneath the surface of Zebes, where hot magma bubbled furiously yet never rose, a purple and yellow dragon lurked ominously. He sat atop a high rock, gazing out at the seemingly endless pits of boiling hot magma below the planet's surface. He breathed out a smoky sigh, showing his display of ugly pointed yellow teeth. This galactic space dragon was known as Samus' ultimate nemesis—Ridley.

Ridley let out a low moan, as though bored with waiting. He craned his extremely skinny and bony neck to catch a glimpse of the opening door in his chamber. Two creatures stumbled through and hopped across the rocks leading up to the rock on which Ridley remained. These figures were two of Ridley's loyal minions, Space Pirates. These strange beasts looked like giant praying mantises with bug-like features and scythes at the ends of each arm. They acted and served as Ridley's "army men", guarding his valuables and protecting his lair. The Space Pirates arrived at the rocky throne of their master and spoke in their own language to him, knowing that he could fully understand their speech. The news roughly translated into this:

"We've found Samus Aran. She is in Crateria, searching for the metroids and possibly you, master." Ridley opened and closed his clawed fingers repeatedly. He nodded, and did not speak, but instead moved his yellow and red eyes to the metroid he had taken prisoner, which sat behind him. Ridley gave the signal for them to give chase and to give more protection for his lair with more Space Pirates. Once they had departed, Ridley turned to see his prisoner once more. The metroid was struggling to break free from its glass prison by throwing itself against the walls and squealing with fright. It was only a larvae, after all.

Metroids are mysterious creatures that carry a dangerous amount of energy that pulses through their bodies. They come in many different sizes and shapes, but the standard shape of a metroid, the most commonly seen, is a jellyfish-like green blob with a transparent body that shows an array of veins running to a red, three-segmented brain. Instead of tentacles underneath the body, metroids have four sharp teeth for latching onto their prey and sucking it lifeless.

Ridley grinned. A dragon's grin is a dangerous and terrifying thing. It shows a certain maliciousness through bared teeth and small reptile's eyes. Ridley's grin was no different from this. He did, in fact, have a plan—something that not even Samus Aran had met before. The great dragon roared, using it to resemble an evil and maniacal laugh.

* * *

Samus had come to a lush green place under the planet's surface, also known as Brinstar. Not more than three seconds ago, there was a rumbling sound that many of the smaller creatures even ran and his from. Caught off-guard by the strange disturbance, Samus moved on with her exploration.

Samus began picking up signals that might somehow be connected to the metroids' energy. _C'mon, give me something good here . . ._ she thought to her visor. The signals being picked up were weak, but they were still something. Frustrated, Samus growled as she shot a power beam at a Sidehopper as it reared up, ready to leap to the side(hence the name of the creature). It screeched as the beam assaulted its leg and began gushing a yellow jelly-like substance. Samus had a stomach of steel and was not irked at all by the creature's limp and oozing body. After all, the bounty hunter was very used to it.

Hours passed until Samus opened another door, which finally led into another elevator room. Odd . . . her map was telling her that the room was much bigger, which generally didn't happen when it came to elevator chambers. Feeling that she had no other choice but to explore the room's secret, Samus began shooting at the walls. Generally, something would have broken open, but nothing did. _This isn't right . . ._ she thought, confused. Samus scanned all the nooks and crannies in the wall, attempting to morph into a ball and use her tiny morph bombs to break through, but to no avail. Frustrated still, Samus stood upright once again and took one last look at the room, impatient and restless. The bounty hunter craved some action; something besides plain exploration. Finding something new would have been great and all, but without something actually happening, she became agitated.

Samus stepped on the glowing elevator pad and waited for it to descend. For some reason, it didn't budge. A sudden tremor shook the entire room, like the rumble from earlier. However, this time, the tremor was much closer. Alarmed yet excited, Samus backed off of the elevator pad and moved towards the door. All power in the room suddenly shut down, except for Samus' power suit. The door refused to operate, and the lights and elevator pad were no longer brightly lit. Another intense tremor followed the power outage. Samus gripped her blaster tightly, ready for attack. Another deep rumble, a roar, and suddenly, the ceiling of the room began to crumble. The sound of splintering metal and shattering glass was deafening as something gigantic passed through the ceiling. Samus stood next to the door, covering her head and protecting it from falling debris and shards of metal. Lights were collapsing and giant cracks were forming in the ceiling. Samus took the dangerous risk of switching her blaster to "launcher" and aimed a super missile at the crack. _No more suspense,_ she thought, _let's see who you are, big guy. _


	3. Chapter 3

Another deafening roar followed the hunter's thoughts. A final crack like terrifyingly close lightning sounded, and then a roar as the giant creature fell through the ceiling. Samus rolled along the door to avoid a giant slab of mossy turf from the room above. Not only was there a giant hole in the ceiling, but now a huge green lizard-like beast that stared directly at Samus with three red eyes, a yellow stomach, and green, scaly skin. It was none other than Kraid, a reptilian monster that was very familiar to the bounty hunter.

Kraid didn't spare a moment before spewing sharp and sticky barbs from three pores in its huge, fleshy belly. Samus began dodging the long barbs and analyzed her surroundings. She needed to find Kraid's weak spot quickly. Missiles began flying from her blaster to the lizard's scaly body. No matter what Samus fired at him, nothing seemed to penetrate his scaly body. Maybe his stomach, Samus thought.

As she ran to the front of the monster's body, Kraid ejected a large sticky barb that may have been about the size of Samus. Seeing the barb too late, Samus had no time to avoid it and it struck her in the abdomen. She let out a yelp of surprise. Kraid raised his head and roared triumphantly. Samus scrambled to her feet and wasted no time searching for his weak spot. She set the blaster back to the regular power beam and charged it, waiting to find an opportunity to open for attack. Kraid roared again, and his pores hurled the spiked barbs once again. Keeping her beam charged, Samus leaped onto the barbs, seeing that they were big enough to jump on. There were only a few seconds before Samus had to flip on an oncoming barb, seeing that the barbs crashed mercilessly into the walls and broke on contact. Samus began barb-hopping until she became very close to Kraid's horned head. He roared again and Samus grabbed her chance. She fired the charged beam into the unsuspecting lizard's mouth. Kraid shrieked in pain.

"Ah, there it is," Samus muttered, satisfied. She hopped to another barb and charged her power beam again. Kraid backed away as the light from the beam shone directly in his face. He shrieked once more, giving Samus(as she continued hopping barbs) a chance to shoot a super missile into his mouth. Kraid squawked and retreated again, trying to force his mouth shut. The super missile had obviously done significant damage. Samus aimed her blaster again and this time charged a beam and directed the beam at Kraid's eyes. Once it struck, Kraid roared again in a pain and Samus wasted no time shooting a super missile into his fleshy mouth. It exploded and Kraid threw his tiny claws up as he bellowed again. Samus jumped to the ground as Kraid began collapsing to the ground. There was barely enough room for him to fall, but he did.

Once she got a chance, Samus approached the giant lizard's body and examined his face and head. There was blood oozing from his cheeks and the top of his head, all where she had shot him. Nodding in self-approval, Samus turned to check the door to see if it was open. Strangely enough, it wasn't.

Startled by the oddity of the still tightly closed door, Samus rotated her head to the limp body of the huge reptile. It was twitching the arms and head. The bounty hunter became more alarmed as it rustled again, as though waking up from a deep sleep. Samus held up her blaster, ready to fight once again, but she found herself stiff as the reptile . . . began to _chuckle_, amused.

"Ha ha ha . . . ha . . ." the voice was deep, and hissed shortly like a snake. "Samusss . . ." The bounty hunter was now—somewhat afraid. This creature never let words escape from its mouth, only bellowing and roaring.

"Who . . . who are you?" she asked, positioning her gun correctly. Kraid did not move his head, but she could faintly see the mouth moving, forming words clumsily, like a young child.

"I'm Kraid . . . reptilian Space Pirate . . . you know this, Samuss . . ."

Samus remained by the door, still in shock.

"But . . . but how?" was all she could utter through her incomprehension. Kraid bellowed a laugh, something more familiar to Samus.

"Ha . . .ha . . . ha! Don't underesssstimate, bounty hunter . . ." A long and drawn-out screech assaulted Samus' ears. Like Ridley's cry, she had memorized this one as well.

"A metroid . . ." The jellyfish-like creature emerged from the ceiling, squealing and shrieking. Kraid roared once again with laughter, and, in a flash of green light, disappeared and took the metroid with him. The bounty hunter backed away and looked in awe as the room lit up once again and revealed a new door through some more crumbling bits of the wall on the other side of the room. Samus, still on the alert, darted towards the door and shot it open. Inside the smaller room was an illuminated beacon with a suit similar to the one that the hunter was wearing—the varia suit.

Once Samus had upgraded her suit to the varia suit, she ran back to the platform and checked her visor's map again. The elevator pad led to Norfair, an underground magma pit that boiled with the flaming-hot molten rock of Zebes. Norfair, as Samus knew, was the home to her nemesis: Ridley. Ready to face him, Samus descended into the pit of magma on the elevator pad.


	4. Chapter 4

**Note: The main setting of this place is on the planet Zebes from the SNES game "Super Metroid". All references made are from "Super Metroid". I apologize for not saying so sooner. **

* * *

Ridley was still atop the rock in his lair, watching the bubbling magma beneath him. He began to sense a different yet familiar creatur's presence. A human . . . a female . . . Samus Aran had infiltrated his home once more. The dragon felt that it was time to begin phase one of his plan. It was ready . . . and so was he.

Ridley nodded his head towards the green and gray guards and motioned to the metroid larvae. The Space Pirates nodded obediently and went to the glass tube that the metroid was struggling to shatter with its insignificant body strength. The guards pressed a button and more smaller, thinner tubes dropped down inside of the larger one. The metroid, with some curiosity, squeaked and calmed itself down as the smaller tubes were dropped from the ceiling of the bigger glass cell. Ridley grinned and nodded slowly. The green Space Pirate pulled a lever attached to the control panel on the cell. The smaller tubes suctioned onto the little metroid as thought they had become external veins. The larvae began to squeal in fright once more, terrified as any child would be.

Ridley roared with fierce enjoyment upon seeing the creature's energy being sucked from its body. The vein-like tubes that were connecting the metroid to a glowing mechanical orb that was storing the energy. The metroid's tortured body was losing its faint glow of energy and life. The red interior faded into a dull purple color. The little creature began to weaken, spitting little spurts of what had been repeatedly screeching cries. The luster of its body diminished as the orb's luster grew more illuminated by the second. Ridley stuck out his snaky tongue and licked his sharp yellow teeth impatiently. Finally, the metroid's brilliance faded completely and the orb's brightness was at its highest level. The small green critter had lost its life and energy and was now nothing but a blob of green with protruding white teeth and purple entrails. Ridley licked his teeth again and raised his head, letting out one last screech of dark elation.

The Space Pirates, without hesitation, took hold of the glowing metallic orb and carefully handed it over to their master. Ridley used his front talons to grip the orb and feel it between his fingers. It was a meager sphere with the ability to harness great energy. Ridley's men had worked on the device for some time, and, having succeeded, used it on the metroid to gain the powers of energy drainage . . . and perhaps more.

The dragon inserted his long claws into four circular spaces in the sphere, all designed specifically to fit the shape of the dragon talons. The orb's light pulsed into the gray claws and dimmed as each pulse transferred directly to the dragon's body. The light acted as electrical pulses, sparking and zapping as the dragon's energy levels grew to the same as the once-living metroid.

A loud clamoring followed. Ridley's shrieking reptilian voice became deeper and more . . . human. The shrieking faded as a blinding flash assaulted the Space Pirates' eyes. They averted their eyes, crying out in pain. Once last blast of deafening sound waves and a final pulse of electric light let loose, and then the room went dark.

A low, quiet sound. Footsteps, not the heavy ones of a dragon, but small ones. A human's. The Space Pirates readied their scythes in preparation for battle, startled by the sudden change in atmosphere and confused by the unexpected turn of events. The footsteps stopped abruptly, and then a single light shone in the middle of the room. A figure, tall and thin with long and bony limbs stepped into the light. The figure had long, perfectly straight black hair that cascaded down to his mid-back. He wore a violet coat that fell to his knees, complete with yellow accents and gold cuff links. The figure's face was long and pale. He licked his lips with a long, forked tongue, allowing his red eyes to dart around. The figure let out a low chuckle.

"I'll sssoon have her . . ." he said with a deep and snake-like voice, " . . . I'll have my revenge oncccce and for all . . ."

The Space Pirates dropped their arms to their sides in terror.

". . . Master Ridley?" they stuttered, shaking with fright.

The human grinned in a sickening way, displaying sharp, yellow teeth.

"My men . . ." he said, taking pleasure in forming words for the first time, "bring her to me, but keep her alive. I mussst kill her myssself. And then . . ." Ridley grinned widely, "I'll have thisss planet and all of thissss power as my own . . ."

The Space Pirates nodded quickly, still in shock that their master had transformed into a human. They scurried away, obeying the human. After placing the orb gingerly into his coat's inside pocket, Ridley perched himself once again on the same rock in the same manner as his dragon from would. He laughed. Oh, what a delightful thing laughter was! Ridley the human let out bouts of screeching laughter, gasping with pleasure. One could only imagine the image of a dragon letting out shrieking maniacal roars of twisted happiness. No evil laughter can compare to that of a dragon's new howling cackle of jubilation.


	5. Chapter 5

Samus leaped on top of a creature that she had just defeated after descending from the elevator pad. It seemed that there was still remainders of the Brinstar's extraterrestrial greenery in the bottom elevator chamber, even though the next room was a boiling pit of molten rock. The creature that the hunter rested on resembled a giant Venus Flytrap plant, but much more animate and alive. It had a mouth that ran all the way across its head, inside of which was a mechanism that could only be destroyed with special firepower. Samus had fired missiles into the brute plant's mouth to eliminate the power that it ran on. Once the colorful interior had died down, Samus sat on the head of the great plant and began to think.

_The metroids don't spawn in lush green places,_ she thought, _but I've already come across at least ten in Brinstar! _

This much was true. Samus had met over ten of the jellyfish like animals, each one appearing to her when her energy was running out. Samus hadn't lost all of her energy, but every time she ran low, the metroids' keen senses picked up the human's unique radiation of body heat and carbon dioxide being released from the lungs. This sense is very similar to that of a shark's, which can use their sense of smell to pick up any living thing's blood.

The bounty hunter shook her head slowly. _Maybe I'm not looking hard enough . . ._

A door by her side suddenly slid open, thus revealing the boiling hot environment and lava pit that bubbled rapidly and fiercely. More creatures that were well-adapted to the hot atmosphere walked on the rocks and stony walls. Some floated around, while others resided right in the lava. Samus took in a deep breath, glad that she could breathe underneath her red helmet, and then snuck into the underground volcano known as Norfair.

Samus hadn't traveled very far before she had run into yet another metroid, this time larger and seemingly hungrier than usual. It was the first time Samus ran into a metroid before her energy was low and she felt a certain weariness pass over her. The metroid screeched and swooped down on Samus, hooking itself to the hunter's helmet and began draining her energy. Samus charged up a power beam and blasted the creature's underbelly. It screeched and retreated, dazed only for a moment. Almost immediately, the metroid came charging back. Samus switched her blaster to "ice beam" and aimed it at the metroid.

The metroid froze in midair, giving Samus the opportunity to switch to missiles and then launch them at the frozen creature. With explosive force, the metroid's body blew up along with the fragments of ice from the ice beam. Pieces of the metroid's fleshy green body were strewn across the rocky floor. Samus exhaled heavily. The intense heat was beginning to work its way into her suit, causing droplets of sweat to form around her brow. Nevertheless, the bounty hunter continued forward and destroyed more of the alien creatures residing in the lava pits.

* * *

Samus' mind wandered aimlessly as she ventured on. There had been too many encounters with the metroids at the most inconvenient times. She considered the possible spawn points of the green monsters, wondering how they could be spreading so quickly across the entire planet of Zebes. Metroids never spread out so much like this, which was a thought that led to wild theories. Perhaps the metroids were adapting to new environments and therefore traveled more to find more victims. Maybe they were creating colonies in places that were convenient for feeding their larvae. Or maybe they were scattering because they were running away from something. Samus didn't like any of the thoughts that she had, knowing that each one of them could be true. Not in the least bit shaken by these theories, the bounty hunter shot down a monster that emerged from the lava. She brought it down and reduced it to bits of flesh with little effort, making her crave a challenge. Down in Norfair, life was becoming boring even with the metroids bearing down upon the hunter.

* * *

The bounty hunter, after opening countless doors and enduring the searing heat of the lava for hours, sat down in not a simple annoyance, but on the brink of pure rage. Frustration tugged at her mind, aching like a migraine. Samus was ashamed to admit to herself that she was—dare she say it?—lost. Lost in a place filled to the brim with molten rock and creatures that were adapted enough to bear it. Lost on a distant planet. Lost with no map. An explorer can only take so much until they become impatient and restless. Currently, this was the case for Samus. _This is very unlike myself,_ she thought, knowing her general personality was to be more curious and less impatient. Samus watched a snake-like lava monster gulp down another small zoomer, or spiked beetle. It was a gruesome sight, but Samus was used to it by now. Once the lava monster spotted Samus, it began to rear up for attack, and Samus simply pointed her blaster at it without rising. The creature let out a gurgling cry—and then it began to scream.

Samus widened her eyes as a metroid—a _huge_ metroid—fed on the insides of the lava monster from the top of its head. The lava beast was screaming as the metroid was making loud and horrible feeding sounds. The metroid was about ten times bigger than the normal-sized ones that Samus had come across. The lava monster's cries became fainter and weaker as the metroid vacuumed up the last bit of its life, like a spider to a fly. Samus stood up, eager for a decent battle. The metroid stopped its feeding and let the dead lava monster drop back into the bubbling pit. The monster fell back with a _plop_, letting Samus get a glimpse of the pitiful creature. The metroid, as Samus had expected, turned to face her and screeched, still hungry.

The bounty hunter took no time when she switched her blaster to "ice beam". She shot at the metroid many times, missing each time while dodging the metroid's lunges. She flipped over the creature as it roared in anger and attempted to grab the hunter. Samus kept shooting everything she had at the beast, but nothing seemed to work. Suddenly, the green creature took Samus by the head, grabbing her with its four protruding teeth, and began draining her life.

Samus desperately wriggled to get free, screaming as the metroid's teeth punctured through her thick metal varia suit and into her sides and both legs. She used her blaster to try to fire at the pulsating mouth and red interior, but couldn't aim correctly. Samus threw her head back and gritted her teeth as the metroid absorbed her energy from four bloody holes in her body. She couldn't break free.

"No!" she cried, feeling the last few bits of life being extracted from her. There wasn't any hope to escape; she was just going to have to die here. The bounty hunter shut her eyes and let her involuntary reflexes take over. Her legs were kicking as every inhalation of the metroid sent another wave of her energy to it. She could feel her body being pulled down strangely._ I'm dying . . ._ she thought, _I'm dying and this is how it feels . . ._

_Thud._ Samus hit the ground hard. Someone had thrown ropes over the metroid to contain it. It screeched loudly, struggling to escape and get its last few bites of its meal. Samus stared at it, weak and now confused. There were voices speaking in a different language. Samus' vision blurred. She could see six tall creatures. They had pulled her free from the metroid's mouth. But now, with what seemed like hostility, they pushed the dazed and weak hunter harshly along a rocky path. That was all Samus could see before she felt herself faint.


	6. Chapter 6

The Space Pirates that were standing in front of Ridley's lair ran to their master to report the news.

"Master, we've captured Samus Aran! She was being drained of her energy by a metroid of great size, and is now very weak. You have the greatest advantage to fight her, master!" Ridley the human slowly stood up and grinned as eerily as the dragon would.

"You have done ssssso well, my minionsss. She is on her way, yesss?" The snake-like tone in the newly transformed human was receding, dying away with every moment. The Space Pirates nodded, eager to please their master. Ridley chuckled darkly. "Very well. I expect to see her ssoon, then. Be on your way." The Space Pirates ran off with glee, similar to the way a child would after receiving sweets. Ridley opened and closed his fingers repeatedly and watched a passing orange zoomer as it scurried by. As it did, Ridley had a thought cross his mind that hadn't been there before. He suddenly opened his mouth and flexed a certain muscle in his throat. A burst of flame erupted from his mouth, like a dragon. The zoomer squealed and darted away in fear. Ridley grinned widely once again as smoke came in wisps between his teeth. He hadn't expected his human form to breathe flames, but the heat resistance in his body was still there. Peculiarly enough, the human/dragon hybrid was glad he wasn't fully human. Nothing could stop him from defeating his mortal enemy now.

* * *

Samus felt herself being dropped to the ground—the hard and rocky ground of Norfair. There was still the uncomfortable heat seeping into her suit; the sweat droplets dripping down her forehead. Harsh, alien voices were speaking . . . the voices were faint and growing distant. There was the sound of a door closing—a loud sound that caused Samus to jump. The slamming of the door snapped the hunter back to attention, and she stood upright, her blaster pointed ahead. Samus was able to get a glimpse of her surroundings.

The room that Samus was dropped in was just like many of the other rooms in Norfair. There was a ground made up of rock, thick in some places and thin in others. Some holes were in the ground, each one steaming from the giant puddles of magma that resided within them. The rocks in this room were higher; they were more like cliffs, really. Stalagmites covered the floor and stalactites hung from the ceiling. It was a regular-looking cavern—until the glass case came into view.

Curious, Samus stepped over to the glass cylinder that ran from ceiling to floor. She still held up her blaster cautiously, waiting for something—anything-to jump out at her. She peered into the bottom of the case and was aghast to see the dead metroid. The three-segmented brain had lost all color, and the body was in pieces—torn and left all over the floor of the tube. The teeth were, oddly enough, the only parts left intact. After all, a metroid's teeth are very powerful and strong.

"Samus," a voice suddenly drawled from behind. Samus, though still bleeding from the four wounds in her body, immediately turned and hurled an ice beam at the source. The figure jumped and did a graceful flip over to the side to dodge the attack. Samus switched the blaster to "wave beam" and charged it, aiming for the offender. She took a shot and the figure jumped out-of-the-way to allow the beam to hit the rock behind him. Samus changed her blaster setting once more to "super missiles" and looked for the figure to shoot at. There was a silence as she turned her head, jerking it around while trying to find the figure.

"Samus," it said again. The hunter whirled around, looking behind her to find the figure.

"Who are you?" she yelled fiercely yet shakily. "Show yourself to me!" There was a pause.

"My name isn't important . . . at least, not yet." Samus' eyes still darted around frantically. Her wounds were slowing her down. _Deep breaths,_ she thought. As she thought, a realization struck.

"How . . . how did you know my name?"

The figure let out a quiet chuckle so Samus wouldn't hear. He silently strode up to the hunter's back and placed his human hand firmly on her shoulder. Samus froze in her tracks upon seeing the long fingers.

"Why, who doesn't know the greatly renowned name of Samus Aran?" he asked with extravagance. He slinked to her front, placing both hands on the shoulders of her large metal suit. "You're an intergalactic bounty hunter." Samus pulled away from his grip.

"Yes, I am. Why would you care?" This was the first time she saw the figure's full body. He was tall and skinny, with a long face and pale skin. His hair was jet-black and completely straight; his suit was purple with yellow accents. Samus looked at the figure with awe. She had never seen another human from a different organization working on the same planet as she was. "Who do you work for?" she asked, relaxing. The figure chuckled and spread his hands.

"I work for no one."

"A likely story," Samus retorted. "Tell me again just who you are."

"I've told you: my name isn't significant. And again, I do not work for any organizations. This planet is my home . . ." Another realization hit the bounty hunter.

"No human can survive the intense heat of Norfair without a suit like mine . . ." she mumbled just loudly enough for the figure to hear. He shook his head menacingly.

"Is that so? Well, well, it seems we have an exception to that rule, then, don't we?" Samus glared at the suspicious figure through her visor. Samus watched as he walked around her, circling and not taking his eyes off of her.

"I want to know how you can survive this heat," Samus said, becoming more suspicious every moment. "And who you are."

"Impatience will get you nowhere, my dear," the man hissed, using his fingers to find his way to Samus' neck underneath her red helmet. Once he did, the figure clenched the bony fingers around her neck, keeping them away from the windpipe and only tightened around the sides. Samus began to raise her blaster, but with his free hand, the figure pulled Samus' blaster arm behind her back. He had a surprising amount of strength for having such skinny limbs. Samus felt the four sharp pains creep back slowly. She wanted to double over in pain, but couldn't. The man was using two fingers to stroke her neck. "What's wrong?" he asked almost mockingly, "Weary from battle?" Samus gritted her teeth and shut her eyes tightly. The figure formed a twisted smile that she couldn't see. "Ah, so you are . . ." he concluded.

"So what?" Samus replied through clenched teeth. "I can still go on."

"Ha . . . you're overestimating yourself. You're weak."

"I am not weak."

"Rethink that response and tell me something . . ." the figure paused, his grip on both her neck and her arm still tight. "Does this hurt?"

Before Samus could open her mouth, the figure released his grips and kicked Samus in the side where her wound was dripping blood. Because of the suit's punctures, there was no way of protecting the wound and Samus cried out in pain, falling to the ground and clutching her side. The figure laughed.

"Not weak, you say?" he drawled, "I say otherwise, Samus Aran."

Samus glared at the man and pointed her blaster at him, trembling.

"Tell me who you are, you piece of filth."

The figure chuckled loudly, and then he did so loudly so that it became more of twisted laughter than chuckling.

"I am Ridley, your nemesis. And Samus Aran, I have returned to destroy you."


	7. Chapter 7

For a moment, there was a pause. Samus stayed on the ground and absorbed what she had just heard, still clutching her sides from the pain and breathing heavily. Ridley didn't make his first move yet.

"If I am to follow the proper human etiquette, only females may attack first." The remark was dripping with mocking tones. Samus squeezed her eyes shut. This was Ridley? Her nemesis was a human? With these thoughts, she stood up with all the strength she could muster. Ridley's dragon grin was smugly crossing his face. "However," he added, stroking his chin, I'm not exactly a human, you know."

Samus' eyes snapped open with sudden clarity. She was only just able to dodge a burst of flame the erupted from Ridley's mouth. The hunter aimed her blaster at him, still not attacking.

"I liked you better as a dragon!" Samus shouted as Ridley lunged for her. Ridley sneered at her, taunting her.

"Hah! Of course you did. That's what you were expecting to see perched atop that rock."

Samus fired a wave beam at the dragon-man, missing by mere inches. Ridley shot more flames from his mouth, aiming for Samus' wounds.

"Ahhh!" Samus screamed as the fire glazed over her right side's wounds. Ridley cackled as she doubled over.

"You're not weak, eh?" he taunted loudly. "Show me your strength, you pathetic little girl! Show me how you really fight!"

Samus' anger boiled quickly to the top. She clenched her blaster and set it to "missile". While Ridley towered over her, Samus aimed a missile at his stomach and launched it. Ridley used an incredible amount of leg strength to jump over six feet into the air. He laughed again as Samus stood up shakily, like a newborn deer. Without a moment to spare, Ridley shot another burst of flame from his throat and hit the hunter directly in the abdomen. She was propelled backward to the floor. Samus' energy was dangerously low now, but she refused to lose to her enemy. Ridley came close to the hunter, about to speak. The hunter rolled over and into a morph ball and released a power bomb: a weapon that, when detonated, spreads a high-temperature heat wave across a large area. Ridley roared, unable to endure the heat produced by the bomb. Samus smiled with triumph.

"Even you can't handle the heat from a power bomb?" she said mockingly. Ridley, with anger, reached for her with human arms. He grabbed on to her neck and this time began to choke her.

"I will be immortal, you weakling," he whispered, bringing the hunter close to the edge of the cliff, where a lava pit rested below, "and you'll do nothing to stop it. Being a human won't last, but I'll practically be a god. I have unlimited power now, and this is only the beginning. You think you'll win by mere means of weaponry? Because I think _differently_." The dragon-man put emphasis on the word "differently", squeezing harder around Samus' neck. The hunter gagged. "And your original mission has failed as well," he added harshly. Samus remembered, widening her eyes: the metroids. Ridley pulled Samus more towards the pit of lava below. "You're nothing compared to my ultimate power," he continued hissing, "I'll be the one to destroy you."

Samus struggled to free herself, glancing over her shoulder to the bubbling magma below her. Ridley yanked the hunter's neck, causing it to crack slightly. Samus was slightly alarmed by the sound and lifted her blaster to face Ridley's bony neck. Enough was enough.

A screech was heard from above—a terrifyingly close and loud screech. The sound multiplied to a hundred screeching sounds. Ridley's face twisted into a horrible grin.

"Your mission has failed, bounty hunter," he said evilly. Samus looked up only to catch a glimpse of a flood of metroids pouring in from crevices in the ceiling. Ridley blew fire into the hunter's wounds again as she had her back turned, this time continuously and without stopping. Samus screamed, barely even hearing herself. The fire began to rip at the open flesh on the hunter. The wounds began to turn black as they charred, releasing the stench of burning skin.

Metroids began to surround the two humans, screeching noisily. Ridley stopped the flow of fire on Samus and snarled at them.

"Back away, you pitiful freaks," he growled, letting out more spurts of flame towards the metroids. The squealing creatures retreated, scattering like a school of fish. Ridley bared his teeth, annoyed. Samus didn't waste any time to set her blaster to "super missile" and used her other arm to pull Ridley down by his long and greasy hair. He fell to the rocky ground with a thud. Samus jumped to the side, trying not to cry out in pain as her sides and legs bled through the charred skin. She aimed the missile at the startled dragon/human hybrid and fired. Ridley screamed as it struck his arm. Samus leaped out of the way as Ridley slashed in her direction. The dragon bellowed angrily as a metroid hooked on to his head. Samus used the distraction to kick the man down to the ground and shoot a charged beam at his chest. The metroid yelped in alarm and flew away, leaving Ridley with four bloody spots in his forehead and chin. Samus stepped on his head.

"Your ultimate power is turning against you," she said, gesturing to the fleet of metroids. Ridley's face twisted in anger and he swung his legs around, making Samus lose her footage and collapse to the ground. Ridley stood back up and grabbed Samus' neck again. While she couldn't move, Ridley ran his claws down Samus' suit.

"You know, I was beginning to think that you're pretending to be weak on purpose," Ridley said, clawing at Samus' wounds, "but it seems you're genuinely in pain." Samus grunted as she struggled to break Ridley's grip. Suddenly, a metroid swooped down, screeching as Ridley batted it away with his only free arm. Samus gave up her struggle, knowing that fighting the grip would be pointless. Ridley succeeded in burning the green creature to a crisp, blackening its skin and charring its insides. He turned back to Samus after a sigh of annoyance. Without saying anything, Ridley looked the hunter directly in the eye and smiled a psychotic smile. He moved his hand up from Samus' neck to her chin. With a flick of his wrist, Ridley had removed the hunter's helmet completely.

* * *

The red helmet tumbled to a stop near the swarm of metroids. Ridley laughed with triumph as Samus felt her face being burned slowly. Her long blond hair was beginning to singe and produce smoke because of the heat. The hunter's eyes watered profusely; she squeezed them shut.

"Don't cry, Samus," taunted the dragon man smoothly, "your suffering will soon come to an end."

Samus opened her eyes and kicked upward between Ridley's long legs. The dragon let out a sound that resembled a dragon's screech, clutching his groin in pain.

_Bet he wasn't expecting that lovely feeling,_ Samus thought. She had no air to form the words, and hardly any time to. Samus stood up as quickly as she could and stumbled to the swarm of metroids. She frantically searched for her helmet by fishing around with her hands. The crowd of metroids had completely covered up the vital piece of the hunter's suit. Samus became aware of the skin on her face being scalded and turning dry, like a severe sunburn. She clenched her teeth and continued groping for her helmet.

The metroids began to realize that Samus was there and sensed her energy being radiated. They all started to surround the hunter and begin latching on to her suit. Samus attempted to repel them by using the wave beam and missiles on her blaster. As Samus shot at them, the metroids squealed and flew away, only to recover and then return. Samus could hear Ridley screech as he was also being swarmed by metroids. The hunter shut her watery red eyes again and tried to inhale through her nose. She caught the stench of burnt flesh and an abundance of smoke. The "sunburn" on her face was turning into a second-degree burn. She reached out in a desperate attempt to find her helmet with the green visor. A metroid grabbed her arm and punctured her suit sleeve in four spots. Samus cried in alarm, letting more heat into her mouth. She shook the creature off and, in doing so, felt the hard exterior of her red helmet.

Slipping on the helmet was a wonderfully relieving and cool feeling. Samus opened her red eyes after turning on her headgear and turned to Ridley, who plunged into a maze of swarming and scattering metroids. The green creatures all attacked the hunter again, coming in spurts of seven or eight at a time. She was too surrounded to even lift up her arm to shoot any more, so Samus rolled into a morph ball and let off a power bomb, causing every metroid to explode into a disturbing amount of little pieces of green and red film-like flesh. Her mission . . . was complete. _Now just to take care of fire-breath . . ._


	8. Chapter 8

Ridley was standing in front of the cliff, and his face gave away his pure rage and barbaric fury. Blood was gushing from the metroid's bite marks in his arms and sides. He stood silent for a moment, his chest rising and falling heavily. Samus pointed her blaster at the dragon-human, still in uncomfortable pain, yet prepared for any blows.

"Now what, you pile of scum?" she asked ferociously, "You're out of power."

Ridley's voice trembled with rage.

"I still have some left," he said, quaking, "and my single motive is still active." The dragon-man lowered his arms and let his bloodstained coat slide off into the lava pit below the cliff, revealing his pale, bony arms and front of his body. His ribs protruded grotesquely underneath the waxen skin, just like in his dragon form. His wounds were still emitting dark red streams of blood that ran down his sides and to his hands. Samus stepped back as Ridley began to breathe smoke between his sharp teeth and eerie smile. As she stepped back, the hunter kicked something hard and round that was lying on the stony ground. Ridley's eyes widened as she picked it up—a metal sphere that had fallen off a cylinder made of glass. She examined it for a split second only getting a small glance at it before Ridley tackled her. The sphere dropped, sliding from Samus' hand as the dragon-man brought her to the ground. Ridley, although a scrawny-looking human, had a surprising amount of muscle hidden beneath his tight and pale skin.

To distract the hunter, Ridley blew fire into her wounds caused by the metroids. Samus wailed as the fire charred her wounds more. Ridley leaped off the hunter and caught the ball before it rolled off of the cliff. Samus stood up and ran to the dragon-man as he ran his long fingers over the sphere. She stopped as Ridley spewed a wall of fire between him and the her. Samus lifted her arm to shield her eyes and then shot a beam of ice at the wall. It froze on impact, miraculously enough, and the hunter was able to break through using a super missile. Ridley bared his sharp teeth and used his free hand to slash at the hunter's weak spots. Samus dodged his claws and, instead of using firepower, used her hand to smack Ridley in the side of his head. He fell directly after the hit, dazed by the force. The sphere had fallen once again.

"What is this?" Samus demanded as she picked up the silver ball. Ridley stood up and slowly lifted his hands.

"Heh . . . it's beautiful . . ." he said with some air of insanity, "isn't it, Aran?"

Samus narrowed her eyes.

"It's your source of power."

"Did I say that?"

"You said that you still had some power left. And then you went on protecting this little piece of crap. You expect me to believe that it's anything different?"

"I expected you to be dead at this point," Ridley retorted, "I still have a sliver of hope."

Ridley, with incredible speed, took Samus by the neck again.

"I'll make this slow . . . and I will enjoy every moment of it."

Samus felt the heat of Ridley's gradual heat on the back of her neck. It singed her skin, like the wounds that the dragon-man had burned before. The hunter elbowed his stomach before the burning became too serious. Ridley yelped in pain. Samus knocked the sphere from his hands and sent it flying straight up.

"No!" Ridley cried.

Samus did a space jump—or, in other words, a double jump—to be the first to catch the glowing sphere. Ridley screamed in frustration and anger. Samus landed farther away from Ridley than she was before. She switched her blaster to "missile" and threw the ball up in the air to shoot it. With the right aim and almost slow motion movements, Samus shot at the sphere to destroy it. Just as the missile struck the sphere, there was a flash of light and a loud explosion. The missile had broken into little pieces on impact. Samus shielded her eyes from the light and let the sphere fall to the ground. It hit the floor with a _thud_ and immediately dimmed. The hunter stood and stared at it in awe and confusion. She picked up the sound of Ridley insanely chuckling.

"Yes, yes, yes . . ." he said, losing some of his mind with every word, "Just try to destroy it . . ."

Samus took a step towards him threateningly.

"How do you destroy this?" she asked slowly, picking up the metal ball. She quickly examined its markings and indents. Ridley laughed again.

"You can't," he answered bluntly.

"Cut the crap, Ridley. I know there's a way to break this."

Ridley spread his arms.

"I told you, you can't," he retorted, "it's indestructible . . ."

Samus narrowed her eyes.

"There has to be a way, everything has a weak point."

"Not this time, Aran," he bragged, "I can't help it."

Samus tried almost everything—power bombs, super missiles, and charged wave beams. Nothing seemed to work. Ridley didn't try to stop it—he merely sat cross-legged on the stony ground in front of the cliff, watching and laughing at every attempt. Samus, after letting off another power bomb, stood upright and kicked the sphere against the wall. Ridley stood up as well, recovering from the power bomb's impact.

"What did I tell you, you incompetent girl? You just don't listen."

"You honestly expected me to trust you?"

"Excellent point, Aran." Ridley sneered and came closer to the hunter. Samus ran to the sphere and looked over its markings again. She noticed four little holes that appeared in spots similar to the holes on a bowling ball.

"These must be used for something . . ." she muttered. Ridley stuck out his forked tongue in his annoyance. Samus turned to him and held out the sphere. "There's a way to open this; I know it."

Ridley held up his hands and towered over the hunter.

"You want me to tell you? You'd trust me enough for that?"

Samus slapped the dragon-man on his cheek. Neither one of them were strong enough to begin another battle, so Ridley accepted the blow and didn't put up a fight. Instead, the dragon-man stood with his hands in his pockets and grinned maliciously as he watched Samus try to open the sphere. For a few more frustrating moments, Samus growled at the metal ball and tugged at the dents and markings. Seeing the hunter making a fool of herself amused the dragon-man. He smirked every time she groaned in anger. Finally, the hunter gave up.

"How do you work this damn thing?" she asked furiously. Ridley just laughed.

"You think I'd be the fool to tell you?"

"You've driven me half-crazy already, you scaly bastard!"

"And I'll enjoy watching the rest of that unfold," Ridley replied. Samus' temper was ready to burst. She shot a missile at the dragon-man's chest. As he laid on the floor dazed, or possibly unconscious, Samus looked at the dents again. A realization hit Samus—a critical realization. She knew what to do just by staring at the shape of the holes in the sphere.

The hunter seized Ridley's bony hand and inserted the four fingers into the holes. Instantly there was a reaction. Red lights surged through the dragon-man's arm, going back to the sphere from where they came from. Ridley's body began to jerk around uncontrollably as the metroid's energy left his human form. Each pulse of light contained tiny traces of human qualities. With every pulse, Ridley became less human and more like a dragon.

Claws began to grow larger. The human hair disappeared; the head elongated into the pointed shape again. The purple scales were beginning to grow back, and Ridley's size increased. He woke up just as his human speech was failing.

"Defeated . . . again . . . ! No . . . no . . ."

All human traits were gone. The wings and tail on the dragon had sprung back during the grotesque transformation. Samus released the fully grown claws from the sphere and took a few paces back. The dragon let out a single long roar. After the defeated roar, he charged toward Samus and slashed at her with his claws, aiming for the sphere. Samus rolled into a morph ball at the right moment, leaving Ridley to come close to hitting the wall. The hunter immediately rolled into the glowing red sphere and sent it to the edge of the cliff, where it stood motionless for half of a second, and then fell into the lava pit below.

Another distressed bellow came from the dragon. He shot fireballs at Samus as she stood up again. They only slightly grazed Samus' side before she dove to the side and avoided the charging dragon. Ridley headed for the lava pit, doing a nosedive after the sphere, but realized that it was gone; lost into the boiling pit. He let out another shriek of despair. Samus hit the floor in an army-crawl position as Ridley angrily swooped down one last time. When he missed, the dragon used his jaws to break open a certain spot in the ceiling. He revealed a large hole in the ceiling—a passageway back to Crateria. Samus shot out a grapple beam and latched on to Ridley's swinging tail. The dragon hissed and fought to try and shake her off, but his attempts failed.

Light and cool rain flooded the two enemies as they arrived at the surface of the planet. Samus released the beam and let the dragon circle a few times. After his circling, Ridley the dragon flew off into space and away from the planet Zebes. Samus squinted at the sky and watched as he became nothing less than a speck in the distance.


End file.
